About the Youngstown/Warren area:
Youngstown, Ohio is located in Northeast Ohio between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Youngstown is known for its industrial history, particularly in steel production. Like most of the Rust Belt, Youngstown began to heavily decline in the 1970s and is still struggling. Though in recent years, there are signs of rebirth in the area, especially in Downtown. Similarly to Youngstown, Warren has stuggled for many decades but is seeing a recent interest in redevelopment in its Downtown (Courthouse Square) neighborhood. Youngstown's current population is around 65,134, and Warren's is around 40,245. The Youngstown-Warren metro area has an estimated population of 555,506. This thread is meant to discuss developments within the city of Youngstown and the whole Mahoning Valley region.

Current/Recent Projects:

DoubleTree by Hilton (Stambaugh Building Renovations):
The Stambaugh Building, built in 1907, is a 12 story skyscraper in Downtown Youngstown. After years of neglect, developer NYO Property Group purchased the building and is currently developing it into a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. It will be the Downtown/University area's only hotel. The first floor will be used for retail. Two restaurants have already secured leases for the space. The hotel is set to open in March 2018.

The Enclave:
The Enclave is a mixed use development located adjacent to the Youngstown State University campus. It will house around 194 student. There will be retail spaces along Lincoln and Wick Avenues. The development is within walking distance to both the YSU campus and Downtown.

Amphitheater/Riverfront Park:
A currently unnamed park along the Mahoning River in Downtown, which will include an amphitheater is being developed. Phase 1, west of Market Street Bridge, will be home to the amphitheater, a pedestrian promenade, and concessions buildings. Phase 2, east of Market Street Bridge, will have more trails, an in-line hockey park, and an extension of the Covelli Center parking lot.

North Phelps Street Streetscaping:
North Phelps Street is receiving a large improvement project in the block between Federal and Commerce Streets. The project is meant to make the road a more attractive route between the YSU campus and the upcoming Riverfront Park. Plans call for landscaping, arches, overhead lighting, and more. It is possible that the project will be modified to make it pedestrian-only.

Michael Kusalaba Branch Library:
This new library will be located on Mahoning Avenue in the Belle Vista neighborhood. It will serve the city's West Side neighborhoods. It will cost a total of around $3.7 million. It will replace the West Library, which was located in the same location. It is expected to be completed in late 2017 or early 2018.

Robins Theatre Renovations:
The Robins Theatre is a historic 1,500 seat theater in Downtown Warren. It was purchased by developer Mark Marvin for $375,000. He plans to reopen the theater and use it for plays, concerts, movies, and more. The renovation costs are estimated to be between $5 million and $7 million.

The Wedge at Hazel Hill:
The Wedge at Hazel Hill is a new park being built on Hazel Hill in Downtown. It is meant to help bridge the gap between Downtown and the YSU campus. It is one of many art projects being done around Downtown by YSU's INPLACE program.

1301 Tiffany Plaza Renovations:
Tiffany Plaza, located on the corner of US-224 and Tiffany Boulevard in Boardman, is being renovated by CTW Development. The plaza's current tenants (Dunkin Donuts, Papa Johns, & Subway) will remain in the plaza. The renovation will make turn this plaza into an up-to-date modern shopping plaza in a prominent location.

Boardman Township Fire Department Main Station:
A new fire station is being built on the corner of Market Street and Stadium Drive in Boardman. It will replace the Boardman Fire Station No. 1 on US-244, which is very outdated. The station was designed by MS Consultants Inc.

Gallagher Building Revitalization:
The Gallagher Building, located on Hazel Street in Downtown is a historic building that is currently in a state of disarray. There have been plans to redvelop it for years, but they have never came into action. Recently, a new developer has purchased the building and plans to convert it into apartment and retail space.

Wick Park Firehouse Redevelopment:
The Wick Park Firehouse on Madison Avenue is currently owned by NYO Property Group. Many proposals have been made to redevelop the property into restaurant space. Though no proposal has gone forward yet, it is an interesting concept.

Austintown Meijer:
In 2016, the supermarket chain, Meijer, purchased the old Austintown Middle School building. They plan to tear it down and build a new Meijer supermarket. The project has been pushed back several times, but construction should begin in 2020. The middle school building was demolished in early 2017. The plan appears to include several out-parcels along Mahoning Avenue.

Commerce Street Improvement Project:
Commerce Street is one of the main roads in Downtown. It is currently a four lane road but there are plans to eventually convert it into a two-lane road with landscaped medians and bike-lanes. City leaders hope this will slow down traffic and help to link the YSU campus to Downtown.

Westford Commons:
Westford is a large planned community centered around a golf course in Canfield, OH. There are currently plans to build retail buildings in between the golf course and US-224. Development of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel has already been completed.

Wells Building Apartments:
The Wells Building is a historic building located in Downtown's Tech Block. It was recently renovated by Strollo Architects. The first floor was made into office space and the upper floors were converted into 12 apartment units. The project was completed in November 2017. The vacant lot adjacent to the Wells Building is also owned by Strollo Architects, who is currently seeking proposals for the lot's future.

University Edge Apartments:
University Edge Apartments, located on Rayen Avenue in the YSU neighborhood was developed by Hallmark Campus Communities. The first phase was completed in 2016, and a second phase is under construction. The second phase will have apartments facing Lincoln Avenue.

TownCenter at Firestone Farms:
The TownCenter at Firestone Farms is a lifestyle center development located in Columbiana, OH on the site of businessman, Harvey Firestone's farm. Phase one is currently completed and features an assortment of restaurants and retail. The style of the development is meant to represent Columbiana in the 1930s. The centerpiece of the Town Center is the clock tower. A future phase 2 calls for a concert stage, and more retail buildings. There are also plans for a future shopping plaza/grocery store development labelled as the "Marketplace at Firestone Farms" across the street on OH-14.

Wick Tower Apartments:
Wick Tower is a 13 story historic highrise located on West Federal Street in Downtown. It was recently converted into apartments by developer, NYO Property Group. The building has 33 apartments and 4 overnight stay units. The first floor is currently being prepared for a restaurant.

Erie Terminal Place Redevelopment:
Erie Terminal Place is a six story historic building located on Commerce Street in Downtown. It was recently converted into a mixed use apartment and retail building by NYO Property Group. The first floor is used as retail space.

Barnes & Noble: Youngstown State Univesity Bookstore:
A new Barnes & Noble bookstore was completed in the summer of 2017 on Fifth Avenue near the University Edge Apartments development. Besides serving as the university's bookstore, it is a full size Barnes & Noble with a Starbucks.

The Commons at Madison:
The Commons at Madison is a 40 room apartment development located in the Arlington neighborhood. The apartments are meant to house homeless people and people will mental illnesses. This $8.5 million project was developed mainly by Meridian Health Care. It opened in August, 2017.

Whistle & Keg Taproom:
A new self-serve taproom located in a historic building in Downtown Youngstown on Federal Street. It opened in fall of 2017. The exterior includes a working whistle which was once used at a steel mill.

Realty Tower Redevelopment:
Realty Tower is an 11 story highrise located on Federal Plaza in Downtown. It was recently converted into apartments by NYO Property Group. The first floor contains retail space along Federal Plaza, the town square of Youngstown.

Mahoning Building Renovations:
The Mahoning Building is a 7 story building located in Downtown Warren along Courthouse Square. It recently was renovated to include new office space and several luxury condos. The renovations were completed in mid 2017.

The Federal Building Redevelopment:
The Federal Building, located on West Federal Street in Downtown Youngstown, was redeveloped by the Gatta Company. The first floor is home to the V2 Wine Bar while the upper three floors have luxury apartments.

Vindicator Building Redevelopment:
The former Vindicator Building, located on Chesnut Street in Downtown was recently redeveloped by the Youngstown Business Incubator. The building is dedicated to the YBI's additive manufacturing operations. It is the newest addition to the "Tech Block" in Downtown.

Central YMCA Renovations:
The Central YMCA, located on Champion Street in Downtown has been a major part of the community since 1915. A $5 million renovation project was completed in early 2017 by Strollo Architects. The exterior received a major upgrade to make it look more modern. The renovations added a new weight room, cardio room, and group fitness room. Many windows and open spaces were added to the building.

America Makes Building:
America Makes is an additive manufacturing company founded by the Obama Administration in 2012. Their headquarters moved from the main Youngstown Business Incubator building into its own building on West Boardman Street. The new building is still within the Tech Block and is connected to the main YBI building by a skybridge across Market Court.

There are a lot of quality projects here. I'm glad some of these nice old buildings downtown are getting some attention. I noticed that NYO Property Group was developing many of these so I googled them and was surprised to see what is happening with the owner.

There are a lot of quality projects here. I'm glad some of these nice old buildings downtown are getting some attention. I noticed that NYO Property Group was developing many of these so I googled them and was surprised to see what is happening with the owner.

Yep... that's classic Youngstown corruption for you! Luckily, the DoubleTree hotel project is still on track despite what happened. Despite all that, I am optimistic that more Downtown buildings will continue to get revitalized by other groups, especially with new projects like the riverfront park coming to Downtown.

Yep... that's classic Youngstown corruption for you! Luckily, the DoubleTree hotel project is still on track despite what happened. Despite all that, I am optimistic that more Downtown buildings will continue to get revitalized by other groups, especially with new projects like the riverfront park coming to Downtown.

That's good. I will say that although that guy seems to have broken a few rules, he was making huge strides in bringing back downtown Youngstown, something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. In that regard I almost think he should be given some slack because he was accomplishing something that would benefit a lot of people in the long run.
Human history is one long string of people bending and breaking every rule to push our species forward.

Youngstown has its own thread now?? - neato! I always thought it had a lot of character and potential, great to see so many things happening - thanks for starting this. The Stambaugh Building and Wells Building are both beautiful.

Youngstown has its own thread now?? - neato! I always thought it had a lot of character and potential, great to see so many things happening - thanks for starting this. The Stambaugh Building and Wells Building are both beautiful.

No problem! I just figured after lurking around this website for a while that I'd go ahead and make a post for Youngstown- I'm glad people are interested! And yes, I agree that the Stambaugh Building will be great once it is finished!

The City of Youngstown will be receiving a $500,000 grant from the Clean Ohio Trails Fund to add a bike connection between Downtown and Mill Creek Park. Though the article calls it a trail, it appears to be just bike lanes. The lane will begin on Tod Avenue in the park, go south on West Avenue, then east on Mahoning Avenue and over the Spring Common Bridge into Downtown. A future phase will add lanes to connect to the planned amphitheater/riverfront park. Phase 2 will likely go east on Federal Street, south on Chesnut Street, & east on Front Street, or connect to the park at the end of Chesnut Street. Detailed design work will hopefully come out in the coming weeks. This will be the Youngstown area's first proper bike lanes (as far as I know).

Here is a map I made of where the lanes are supposed to be. The red line is phase 1 and the yellow is phase 2 (Phase 2's route is not 100% certain):

The former Vindicator Building, located on Chesnut Street in Downtown, has been renovated by the YBI (Youngstown Business Incubator) and will be the newest addition to its five building campus in Downtown's Tech Block. The building will be dedicated to additive manufacturing. The YBI made sure to preserve the building's historic grandeur during the renovation process. A classroom has also been included for lessons on the additive manufacturing process.

So glad they're restoring a lot of the beautiful historic buildings downtown and the bike lane to Mill Creek Park will be great. Mill Creek Park is a gem of an urban park and one of the prettiest in the US in my opinion, an unknown gem.

Thanks for putting this together - I've made my life in Cleveland but spent my formative years in the Youngstown area. I'm really interested to see what they do with the Gallagher Building since I spent quite a few evenings in the late 80s/early 90s at Cedars. Keep up the updates, they're appreciated!

The student organization, YSUscape has painted several utility boxes in the Downtown and YSU area. This is one of many recent art related beautification projects in Downtown - others include the planned 'gateway' mural on a Mahoning Avenue bridge and a shipping container bus stop.

Here is a repainted box on West Federal Street next to Wick Tower:

The Enclave mixed use development update:

The Enclave is a mixed use development located in the YSU neighborhood on the corner of Wick & Lincoln Avenues. As you can see in the following photo, work is progressing nicely on the student-housing portion of the project which is facing Rayen Avenue. The undeveloped portion in the foreground will have two retail buildings along Lincoln Avenue as well as a parking lot for residents.

After Allegiant Airlines announced that they would be ending their services to the Youngstown-Warren Airport beginning in January, the airport has been left with an uncertain future. Airport officials have been looking for new airlines, and will be holding a public forum to discuss possible options. The main proposal comes from Southern Airways - a small airline specializing in regional flights. Their plan for Youngstown's airport would be to have flights to and from Washington, DC and Detroit.

After Allegiant Airlines announced that they would be ending their services to the Youngstown-Warren Airport beginning in January, the airport has been left with an uncertain future. Airport officials have been looking for new airlines, and will be holding a public forum to discuss possible options. The main proposal comes from Southern Airways - a small airline specializing in regional flights. Their plan for Youngstown's airport would be to have flights to and from Washington, DC and Detroit.

That would be quite an interesting shift in available service / routes. Considering that according to the airport's website, pretty much all of the current Allegiant routes go south, except for Atlantic City.

I agree - it is a strange shift in flight routes. But, Southern Airways doesn't seem to do long distance routes, meaning flights to the south won't happen. I don't see how Youngstown can have enough people interested in flying to Detroit or DC to be honest - recently an airline brought service to Chicago, and it failed miserably. In reality, I can't see the airport succeeding without Allegiant - Most people that used the airport used it as a cheaper/more convenient alternative to fly to vacation destinations, most notably Myrtle Beach. Now, this will not be possible.

And regarding the utility box project, a second phase will be done in the next few weeks. It appears it will still just be in the Downtown/YSU area, but it could be for other neighborhoods too.

Because I can't list these on the main post of this thread since they are small projects, I decided I would make this post to highlight a couple historic renovations that have been done recently.

204 Broadway Street:
This house, built in 1907 is located on the corner of Broadway and Elm. Directly across the street from the house is Wick Park, which has gone through many recent improvement projects. Like most houses in the Wick Avenue Historic District, it had been used as a rental property for university students due to the neighborhood being within walking distance to YSU. Rob Pilloli, the owner of the house, decided to fix it up and make it into his own home. The house once belonged to the wealthy Stambaugh family but had been in a state of disarray for several decades. Click here for pre-renovation photos.

260 Tod Lane:
This north-side 15 room mansion recently sold for $73,000, and there are plans to renovate it. It was purchased by two locals from the North Heights neighborhood. Renovations are estimated to cost around $80,000. It was built in 1918 by the Wick Family.

1012 Bryson Street:
Located in the Wick Park Historic District, this 105 year old home was purchased for $8,500 by Rachel and Joe Parent. They have since invested $30,000 into the house. Click here for pre-renovation photos.

There has been some exciting news on the new amphitheater/riverfront park in Downtown. The project will take a huge space of land previously occupied with steel mills and replace it with a large park. It is being called the "Central Park of Youngstown." A local group, the Youngstown Foundation announced a $3 million donation towards the project. In addition, they have purchased naming rights to the amphitheater: it will be called "The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater." Work has already begun on clearing out the project site, but there has been no completion date announced yet. New renderings and details were released today by MKSK, a Columbus development company working on the amphitheater.

The first phase will be to create a 3200 seat amphitheater on the west side of Market Street Bridge. It will include restrooms, a concessions area, a VIP building, a ticket box, terraced seating, and an expanded canopy. Future phases will bring a possible "water park facility," a fountain, a dog park, a children's garden and play area, a community garden, basketball courts, and bocce courts. The name of the whole park seems to be "Riverfront Park." The estimated cost is around $6 million. Despite the newly elected mayor being an opponent to the amphitheater project, it appears that it will go forward.